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Friday, December 6, 2013

Vatican
City, 6 December 2013
(VIS) - “To hear,
distinguish, and interpret the many voices of our age, and to judge
them in the light of the divine word, so that revealed truth can
always be more deeply penetrated, better understood, and set forth to
greater advantage.” This is one of the tasks of the theologian,
Pope Francis asserted today, quoting from the Pastoral Constitution
“Gaudium et spes”, on receiving members of the International
Theological Commission and its president, Archbishop Gerhard Muller,
at the close of their plenary assembly.

“Theologians,
therefore, are 'pioneers' in the Church's dialogue with cultures; a
dialogue that is both critical and benevolent, which must encourage
the welcome of the Word of God by a part of persons 'from every
nation, race, people, and tongue'”, the Holy Father stated,
continuing the issues that the Commission had dealt with in their
assembly, with its theme of “The Relationship between Monotheism
and Violence”.

“Your
reflection,” he said, “bears witness that God's revelation truly
constitutes Good News for all humanity. God is not a threat for
humankind. Faith in the one and thrice holy God is not and can never
be a source of violence or intolerance. On the contrary, its highly
rational character confers a universal dimension upon it, capable of
uniting persons of good will. On the other hand, the definitive
Revelation of God in Jesus Christ by now renders every recourse to
violence 'in the name of God', impossible. It is precisely by His
refusal of violence, by His having conquered evil with good with the
blood of His Cross, that Jesus has reconciled humans with God and
with themselves.”

“It
is this very concept of peace that has been the focus of your
reflection on the Church's social doctrine, which has the goal of
translating God's love for the human person, made manifest in Christ
Jesus, into a concrete reality of societal life. … The Church is
held to living first of all within herself that social message that
it bears to the world. Fraternal relations between believers,
authority as service, sharing with the poor: all of these traits,
which have characterized ecclesial life from its origin, can and must
constitute a living and attractive model for the diverse human
communities, from the family to civil society.”

“This
witness,” the Bishop of Rome emphasized, “pertain to the People
of God, a People of prophets, in its entirety. By the gift of the
Holy Spirit, the members of the Church possess a 'sense of faith'.
This is a kind of 'spiritual instinct' that makes us 'sentire cum
Ecclesia' [think with the mind of the Church] and to discern that
which is in conformity with the apostolic faith and is in the spirit
of the Gospel. Of course, the 'sensus fidelium' [sense of the
faithful] cannot be confused with the sociological reality of a
majority opinion. It is, therefore, important—and one of your
tasks—to develop criteria that allow the authentic expressions of
the 'sensus fidelium' to be discerned. … This attention is of
greatest importance for theologians. Pope Benedict XVI often pointed
out that the theologian must remain attentive to the faith lived by
the humble and the small, to whom it pleased the Father to reveal
that which He had hidden from the learned and the wise.”

“Your
mission, therefore, is both fascinating and risky. It is fascinating
because research in and teaching of theology can become a true path
to holiness, as attested by many Fathers and Doctors of the Church.
But it is also risky because it bears temptations with it: hardness
of heart, pride, even ambition,” the Pope observed, recalling a
letter from St. Francis of Assisi to St. Anthony of Padua regarding
this danger. It warns: “I am glad that you are teaching the
brothers sacred Theology provided that, in the study, you do not
extinguish the spirit of holy prayer and devotion.”

At
the conclusion of the audience the Holy Father entrusted the
theologians to the Immaculate Virgin so that they might “grow in
this spirit of prayer and devotion and thus, with a profound sense of
humility, be true servants of the Church”.